Prideful Blossoms
by wintergreen825
Summary: This author likes flowers and showing off their pride. So they have lots of HP characters going to Pride. Oh, and there's flowers somewhere. (Oneshot Collection; Updates but is considered complete, due to each oneshot being complete.)
1. Cherry Blossom

**Legal Disclaimer:** I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

**Warning:** This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.

**Author's Note:** There's two things I need to explain before you get into the fic. The first one is that autistics tend to struggle with any kind of crowded event, and frankly Pride is incredibly crowded and active. Sensory issues are very common and finding a little alley or niche is a definite need that allistics will not normally consider. The other thing is Pride tends to favor allosexualities and despite pictures of kids at Pride, it is not a family-friendly event. There can be a lot of scantily clad people and a lot of making out (occasionally more; really could have done without seeing that) going on. Aces who are even a bit sex-repulsed are uncomfortable without even taking into consideration potential exclusionists who flatout tell us that we don't belong at Pride.

**Dedication:** to Magi and all my other autistic aces out there. Here's two autistic aces going together to pride and supporting each other through everything. We are here. We are queer. Get over it.

**Submitting Info:**  
**Stacked with:** Hogwarts (Term 10); MC4A  
**Individual Challenges:** In a Flash (N); Yellow Ribbon (Y); Yellow Ribbon Redux (N); Ethnic & Present (N); Neurodivergent (N); Quiet Time (Y); Brush (Y); Summer Vacation (?); Gryffindor MC (N); Ravenclaw MC (N)  
**House:** Hufflepuff  
**Assignment No.:** Term 10 – Assignment 6  
**Subject (Task No.):** Muggle Culture (Task 01: Write a fic featuring cherry blossoms.)  
**Other Hogwarts Challenges:** 365 Words (191 – Chaotic); Insane Prompt Challenge (325 – Harry Potter/Luna Lovegood)  
**Space Address (Prompt):** 3C (Blossom/Flower)  
**Representation(s):** Autistic Harry Potter; Autistic Luna Lovegood; Harry Potter/Luna Lovegood  
**Bonus Challenges: **Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress; Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi  
**Tertiary Bonus Challenges:** T3 (Terse; Thimble)  
**Word Count:** 625

(^^)  
**Prideful Blossoms  
**_Cherry Tree_  
(^^)

"Are you certain that we belong here?" Harry asked as yet another scantily clad person walked by the mouth of the alley they had retreated to when the chaotic mess that was Pride had become overwhelming.

Luna swallowed audibly before nodding. She curled into his side, one slim hand fisted in the front of his sundress while the other rubbed the end of his braid betwixt her fingers. Having Luna so close was helping his own anxiety but it did nothing for his sense of not belonging among the raucous crowd celebrating their sexual identities, regardless of Luna's insistence that they belonged.

At least no one had commented about him wearing a dress instead of trousers, if they had even noticed that he wasn't as feminine as his companion. After so many years of wearing robes on an almost daily basis, nicking something from Luna's half of the wardrobe because it had caught his eye was an easy choice. That the choice also displayed the tattoo branches that curved around both his arms made it easier still, because Luna did nice at weaving the cherry and plum blossoms together. The pale blossoms shone brightly against the deep tan of his skin, a fitting display of grief for all the loved ones he had lost in his life. The dress had no back to hide the twisted trunks of the trees whose flowering branches covered his arms.

Luna's personal sigil had been detailed into the trunk of the plum tree. He could feel the soft silkiness of his own hair brushing against it as Luna fidgeted with the braid end. The sensation distracted him from how uncomfortable he was with their surroundings. He still felt as if his mind was being swept away by the chaos. Then Luna shifted her stance enough that her cheek rubbed against his arms. The skin to skin contact, enhanced as it was by the magic Luna had used to create the tattoos connecting with the magic still within the blonde, anchored him to the moment.

For the first time in hours, Harry felt like he could breathe fully. Luna turned her head and rewarded the exodus of his tension with a kiss on one of the cherry blossoms. The sweet gesture reminded Harry that Luna was right more often than she was wrong about things, especially when it came to things like this. Why would she be wrong about them belonging at Pride Fest? He leaned his forehead against hers, instantly feeling the strain of the awkward angle but not caring because he could smell the cherry blossom, plum, and mint that whispered Luna's presence. Despite the delicacy of the scent, it chased out the lingering doubt about _lacking a sexual attraction_ being queer enough to excuse their presence. Even if someone complained and got them tossed out on their butts, he would still have Luna.

She released the front of his dress. After stroking the wrinkle she had created in the fabric to smooth it out, Luna wiggled her fingers to bring forth the small burst of magic that she adored doing since she figured out the trick. With gentle fingers, she tucked the conjured cherry blossom cluster behind his ear. Then she pulled back far enough to flick the tip of her tongue over the tip of his nose.

"Lemonade," she declared, without moving any farther away. Harry rubbed his nose against her before licking his lips, noticing for the first time how thirsty he had gotten while they had stood in their little hiding spot. He nodded.

"Lemonade," he agreed. Then Luna was pulling him back into the flow of the crowd. Faithful as always, Harry followed where she led. Good things always came from following Luna.


	2. Daisy

**Legal Disclaimer:** I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

**Warning:** This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.

**Author's Note:** So, I'm nonbinary, which even I'm gonna say is iffy whether it's considered trans or not despite definitely not being cis. However, I'm still shining a light here on a trans issue that most people don't seem to realize. Trans men are capable of bearing children, under the right circumstances. There are several things which make this harder for them, but they are capable. So here's a little fic about a trans man on the cusp of starting his new life as a parent.

**Submitting Info:**  
**Stacked with:** Hogwarts (Term 10); MC4A (Ship; FPC; BAON; StL; Star; Fence; Shower; T3; SN; FR)  
**Individual Challenges:** In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon (Y); Yellow Ribbon Redux; Letter of the Day (x2); Gryffindor MC; Slytherin MC; Ravenclaw MC; Hufflepuff MC; Flags & Ribbons (x4) (Y x1); Rian-Russo Inversion (x2); Real Family; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent (x2); Quiet Time (x2); Themes & Things A (Y); Trope It Up C (Y); Times to Come (Y); Summer Vacation; Seeds; Pride; Old Shoes  
**House:** Hufflepuff  
**Assignment No.:** Term 10 – Assignment 11  
**Subject (Task No.):** Voodoo Magic (Task #12: Write about starting something new.)  
**Other Hogwarts Challenges:** Insane Prompt Challenge [166] (Pregnancy); 365 Words [218] (Crown); Scavenger Hunt [60] (Summer themed); Constellation Club [Unukalhai] (Flower Crown); Gym [Event] (A Birth)  
**Representation(s):** Autistic Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter; Theo Nott/Justin Finch-Fletchley  
**Bonus Challenges: **Car in a Tutu; Unicorn; Second Verse (Not a Lamp; Found Family; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread; Unwanted Advice); Chorus (Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Tomorrow's Shade)  
**Tertiary Bonus Challenges:** T3 (Terse; Tether); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); FR (Satisfaction; Gestation)  
**Word Count:** 862

(^^)  
**Prideful Blossoms  
**_Daisy_  
(^^)

"This was a horrible idea," Theo announced, smoothing his shirt over his extended stomach.

They had been at the event for less than an hour and _everything hurt_. His feet hurt, because _of course_ there weren't any benches anywhere to be seen. His back hurt, because all this walking while heavily pregnant was an _absolutely smashing_ idea. His skin hurt, because _of course_ he had forgotten sunscreen, and the person guaranteed to have remembered that fair people don't do well exposed to massive amounts of sun in a short period had wandered off with her bag.

"This might not have been the best idea, yeah," Justin agreed. Theo opened his mouth to continue arguing, only to let out an appreciative moan when Justin rubbed his lower back in the exact spot that had been hurting the most. The former Hufflepuff worked the spot for a few blissful moments. "Maybe we should find Luna and Harry and get out of here?"

"Now, that's a grand idea," Theo declared. He really should have stayed home. Going to Pride this close to his due date was probably the stupidest thing he had done since second year when he had used saran wrap as a binder. There was just no way that he was going to miss the first time Luna managed to drag Harry to Pride.

Actually, there was no way that he could allow Luna to go to Pride on her own, not in good conscience. Despite knowing that his childhood friend could take care of herself normally, the sensory issues could quickly overwhelm her, especially if there was something that hit a sensitive spot. Harry was better at pushing through his own issues there, a holdover from his _loving family_, but none of the measures he used to do so would work for Luna, which he knew. Harry could face a Dark Lord backed by an army of Death Eaters without a single problem but present him with a partner in the middle of a meltdown and the guy crumbled like a cookie.

A shiver of unease traveled down Theo's spine. They had been separated an hour already. What if they needed help? There was as many quiet spots as there was benches. His stomach muscles tightened sharply as he twisted to look for the pair. Justin kept his hand on Theo's back, steadying him when the extra weight around his middle threatened to overbalance him.

As fey-like as always, Luna slipped out from between two booths with Harry following behind loyally. Sometime after they had separated, Luna had swapped out her plain bag for one with the colors of the Aro flag. Harry had also picked up some merch. The soft purple of the wisteria contrasted nicely with the richer hued violets and pinkish cream of the cherry blossoms in the flower crown wrapped around his pitch-black hair with ribbons the color of smoke. Even his dark skin had a reddish flush indicative of a sunburn, if only across his cheeks. Luna was somehow still as pale as moonlight, not even kissed from the hours in the summer sun.

Then Luna was there in front of him, offering up another flower crown to him. This one had been made entirely from daisies, but two-thirds of the blooms had been dyed—probably the Muggle way, given the inconsistency in the job—into shades of blue and pink. Theo's eyes prickled with tears at the acknowledgement. To cover the swell of emotion, he nodded, letting her place the crown on his head. Damn pregnancy hormones were destroying his stoic Slytherin façade.

"Love you, Tea," Luna said, using the nickname she had given him when they had met on the first day of primary school, just two magical children attending the same Muggle school.

He pulled her into a hug, biting back a groan as the suddenness of the movement sent another ripple of sharp tension across his lower back. Ever perceptive to things like that, Luna pulled back, keep ahold of his arms. Her heather-colored eyes widened as another twinge of pain went through his back.

"You're in labor!"

"No, I'm just—" He cut himself off with a groan, nearly doubling over as the pain intensified. Justin helped control the fall as Theo's knees went weak. He panted through the contraction before continuing. "Okay. Maybe I'm in labor."

"Nah," Harry dismissed flippantly, "it's just something you ate." The former Gryffindor crouched down beside Theo to get a better angle to help Justin lift Theo off the ground. "Let's get you out of here before you're obligated to name the kiddo _Rainbow_."

"You act like that's a horrible idea, Potter," Theo said with equal snark despite leaning heavily on both men. "Rainbow is a very lovely name."

"Mummy would love that," Justin said as he escorted his partner out of the event. "Think if we convince her that it's a proper wizarding name that she won't complain about modern naming trends?"

"It is better than _Apple_," Luna commented. "Less edible. You only taste rainbows, not eat them."

Theo didn't know if the laughter lessened the pain of the contraction or not, but it did make it interesting.


	3. Zinnia

**Legal Disclaimer:** I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

**Warning:** This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.

**Author's Note:** Okay. So I live in Kansas City and lemme tell ya, our art museums rock, especially the Nelson-Atkins, which is roughly across the street from a modern art museum and down the street from the Kansas City Art Institute. And yes, KC does not have a parade for Pride. We have a multi-day long festival on the grounds of the Liberty Memorial (a memorial for WW2) which is lovingly known as the Flaming Phallus due to ever-burning flame on top of the tower. Well, I say "flame" but it's an illusion made by our Power & Light people.

**Submitting Info:**  
**Stacked with:** Hogwarts (Term 12); MC4A  
**Individual Challenges:** Beauty of the Abstract; Shadow HP Bribery (Y); Cry Power; Gryffindor MC (x7); Ravenclaw MC (x2); Hufflepuff MC (x1); Magical MC (x10); Artist MC (x2); Neurodivergent (x2) (Y x1); Rian-Russo Inversion (x5) (Y); Ethnic & Present (x5); Ship Sails (Y); Setting Sail (Y); Hold the Mayo; Zed Era (Y); Old Shoes (Y); Short Jog; Bucket Listing; Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon; Skittles [Nonbinary]; Gwen's HP Checklist [Desi Potters]  
**House:** Slytherin  
**Assignment No.:** Term 12 – Assignment 12  
**Subject (Task No.):** Folklore (Task#1: Write a story set in North America.)  
**Other Hogwarts Challenges:** Insane Prompt Challenge [581](Sunny); 365 [212](Naked); Herbology Club [Plot 3](Wonderwall - Oasis)  
**Other MC4A Challenges: **Sp Bingo [3D](Rainbow); Su Bingo [5B](Trip); AU [1E](Turned Left); Hunt [Su Settings](Kanas City); Ship [](); Chim [Limu](Sharing); Fire [Hard](Nontraditional Family); Garden [Plant Types](Nontraditional Family)**  
Representation(s):** Friends as Family; Desi & Autistic Harry Potter; Reclaiming Self & Heritage  
**Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: **Brooms Only; Car in a Tutu; A Long Dog; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress; Found Family; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread; Mother Hen; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Pocky Pockets; Wabi Sabi; Fizzy Lemonade; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Tomorrow's Shade)  
**Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges:** T3 (Thimble); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); FR (Satisfaction; Liberation)  
**Word Count:** 1006

(^^)  
**Zinnia**  
(^^)

When the surviving members of the Defense Association decided that they were going to take a trip together the year after Dennis (the youngest of them) had graduated, none of them had anticipated ending up here. Their location had ultimately been decided by the tried and true method of throwing something sticky at a spinning globe. The timing of the trip ended up being determined by it taking nearly a year to get everyone's paperwork and schedules arranged, especially as several of them had plus-ones to consider. Thankfully, more than one of them turned out to be wealthy enough to help cover costs for the less fortunate members of their group.

Which is how a group of wixen twenty-somethings (and one freshly minted eighteen-year-old) ended up in the middle of America in June.

'Middle of America' was not even an exaggeration as Kansas City was located in nearly the center of the continental portion of the country. The group toured the city and the associated cities in its immediate surroundings. Despite the relative youth of the city compared to London, there were plenty of historic sites to occupy them.

Dean and Luna adored the art museums while Hermione was thrilled with how all three of them (even the ones not directly connected to a college!) had free admission for all age groups. As the friends toured the Nelson-Atkins, most of the group only half-listened to Hermione's surprisingly thorough lecture on the importance of sharing culturally significant artwork with the public. None of them truly had the heart to cut her off, even if it forced them to linger in the Hellenistic section longer than they had wished.

Parvati and Padma had gone silent and reverent as the group had stumbled upon the carefully maintained temple on the second floor of the Nelson. Both Patils had bowed their heads towards the lounging bodhisattva on the pedestal that the temple was dedicated to. Then they had both pulled Harry to the space between them and began to whisper an explanation of who was Avalokiteśvara. Cho had offered up a few different aliases for the being, each from a different Asian language. Harry personally thought that Guanyin was easiest to pronounce and that anyone dedicated to compassion to the point that they were revered for it would not begrudge him use of it.

The group had been crossing above the busy street in a bridge enclosed in glass when Seamus had spotted the colorful tents on the hilltop behind the building they had just left. The Irishman had wasted no time dragging their entire group back across the bridge and out into the blistering heat. Then they had all trudged up the seemingly endless stairs to the monument crowning the hill and surrounded by an absolute riot of colors.

Everywhere they looked, there were variations of rainbows. Merchants had it on much of their products. People walking by had rainbows on their clothing or bags—several even had a rainbow painted on some visible portion of their skin. There was a lot of rainbow flags as well. Interspersed with the rainbows were other color combinations in similar repeating patterns. Harry could tell that they must have some kind of meaning just like the rainbows, even if he didn't recognize any of them.

"Be still, my flaming heart," Seamus breathed as a grin grew on his face. "We arrived just in time for Pride!"

"We're not actually going to attend this monstrosity, are we?" Zacharias demanded. His upper lip twisted like he was trying not to sneer. "It's garish!"

"I hate to say this," Susan said, looking like every syllable cost her, "because I loath the idea of agreeing with Smith in any way, shape, or form—"

"I am really feeling the love, Bones," Zacharias quipped dryly.

"—but this does not look like something we can just attend," Susan continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. Her face was already turning pink from the sunlight beating down on them. "There seems to be a uniform or teams—oh, Helga's bloomers, where are that man's clothes?"

Harry's gaze snapped to where she was staring in shock. The man in question wasn't actually naked. His rainbow speed was just exceptionally small. The only other thing he wore were shoes. He did have a plastic bottle on a strap cutting across his broad and well-tanned chest. The bottle was half magenta and half indigo with a thick stripe of violet separating them. The man gave their group an exaggerated wink before he took a deep pull from the water bottle.

"Dean," Seamus whined, "have I mentioned that I love you recently?"

"We're not propositioning a complete stranger for a threesome."

"But he's so pretty," Seamus protested. Justin, Ginny, and Padma all hummed their agreement with that assessment. A beat afterward, Luna decided to speak up as well.

"I don't see it," the Ravenclaw disagreed. She played with the cork necklace she wore. "He's not so pretty that he needs to be stared at like that. Is that a face painter?"

Her grip was strong as she snagged Harry's arm and dragged him over to the booth. Not that Harry minded being dragged places by Luna. It was different than whenever Hermione had done the same, or at least, it seemed different to Harry. That Luna tended to only do it in order to pull Harry to things that she thought he might hesitate to move towards on his own only helped him in that regard. Hermione only wanted him to go where she wanted.

"What about this one?" Luna asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. She was pointing at a zinnia with white, yellow, purple, and black petals. Harry looked nervously around them despite knowing that he was an ocean and half a country away from the Dursleys. When he nodded his approval to her, Luna's smile was brighter than sun overhead.

And when they rejoined their friends, none of them did more than compliment the flower on his cheek.


End file.
